Jack
by leafs nation
Summary: On the road after being denied at the gates of Wellington several times, Clem, AJ and Kenny wind up at an old pioneer town with little to nothing to show for it. But autumn is in the air, and for once, Clementine wants to have a little fun for a change instead of dealing with their cold, dreary lives in the apocalypse.


Tiny, delicate fingers lightly traced along the jagged edge of a cut that ran from the top of her eyebrow down towards the side, forming a crescent moon shape as Clementine grimaced after bothering the wound with too much pressure. That would require stitches – stitches that neither of them had in their possession. Time would inevitably heal the sore, as it often did, but without the proper medical assistance to give it that extra _mmph_ , it would definitely form a nasty scar. Fifth one within two years, come to think of it.

It was official now. Clementine and wooden, unsafe doors did not get along.

"Damn it," she winced as a few droplets of red slowly descended closer towards her eyeball, but with a little bit of quick maneuvering, she was able to withstand the pain for the most part. There were much worse things in life besides this, and after all, pain was supposed to only be temporary. If she could get through an entire night of breaking and entering, stealing a bunch of medical supplies right under the nose of an unsuspecting group of survivors and then patch herself back up once again, then there was no doubt in her mind that a little TLC would fix her up in no time flat.

Hunger, however, would prove to be a far more deadly conundrum. For her, the baby and for her weathered companion.

Kenny had insisted that she stay back with AJ at the schoolhouse – that _he_ would head out today and scavenge for supplies, and that _she_ was supposed to kick back and relax for a little while.

' _What makes you think that you'll have any better luck than I will? You can barely even see as it is!'_ she had challenged, baffling the old man with how brazen and bold the girl was becoming in such a short period of time. The two of them _had_ been in close proximity of each other for quite some time now, so once in a while a little banter was bound to happen one way or another. But it still unnerved him a little bit, just how much the little tyke he had met back on a farm had grown up – had been _forced_ to do so.

As for Clementine, however, she really hadn't noticed the changes happening to her. And how could she? It was natural, and it wasn't as if someone had come over and planted a new brain inside of her noggin. Everything, from killing walkers to hunting for supplies, came so fluidly for the girl now that she was actually having a tough time remembering what life was like before all of this. Her parents were long gone, and although the pain still ached in her gut from time to time, she was at least thankful that she wasn't entirely alone on the road. Taking care of AJ had a way of taking her mind off of the bad stuff in her life.

For such an early autumn afternoon, it sure was feeling pretty brisk outside. The faint, almost smoky outline of her breaths danced in the air with every exhale, and Clementine found herself shivering through the thin layers of clothing that she had on. The ugly ski jacket that Bonnie had given her had gotten snagged on a piece of barbed wire when Kenny and her were running away from walkers, and as a result – other than an itchy, wool sweater that she often stubbornly refused to put on – Clem was back to her purple, long-sleeved attire. Her slim frame from months of malnutrition definitely wasn't helping her keep the cold at bay.

The sunshine just barely permeated through the grey clouds dotting the skyline, and Clementine barely noticed a couple drops of light rain tapping on her hand as she gave the field another once-over. Rain would certainly make her trek back to the two boys more difficult than it normally would, so she'd have to make this quick. With a dense forest enshrouding this area of the campground, this was really the only place for miles that neither of them had checked yet. So far, like most other areas in the vicinity, it looked as though this was gonna be a dud, too. No magical picnic baskets were awaiting for her beckon call.

But still, as the girl had learned long ago, checking most nooks and crannies was a must. So she kept onwards.

 _Come on, gimme something good,_ she thought to herself, clutching her pistol down near her waist and praying that she wouldn't yet have to use it. There were only a few bullets left in the chamber and ammunition was scarce. She didn't want to resort to using sticks and stones. She still wasn't the most comfortable with close-quarters combat.

Fortunately, it seemed that luck was on her side today. Clementine had only spotted one lone walker trapped underneath the wheel of an old SUV, and after dispatching the monstrosity with a few swift kicks to the face, she had wandered deeper into the campground with no resistance whatsoever. It was almost eerie with how quiet it could be, though. Besides a few birds darting about through the trees, the woods were dead silent. Depressingly enough, the astute pre-teen had figured that most of the inhabitants had probably either been killed off or fled after realizing that there wasn't much in the way of resources around here. All she and Kenny had left was about half of the second green bag that Edith had given them.

Being careful not to traipse through the mud, Clementine hopped over the dirt pile and kept her eyes peeled. The grass went up to her knees and made tripping over a lot easier to do.

Just as she was about to give up her search and head back to Kenny with nothing to show for it, she spotted something peculiar. Down a small hill just past one of those totem poles that she was now used to seeing around these parts was a small, overgrown patch of vegetables. Clem found it odd that these would just randomly be growing over in a place like this with nobody deliberately keeping track of them, but then again, she hadn't exactly seen a pumpkin for a very long time now.

It wasn't exactly the kind of thing she was looking for, and wasn't entirely sure if it'd be edible while raw, but the sight brought a small grin to her face. A pumpkin! Just like the ones she used to see in her small neighbourhood every year on Halloween! Memories of heading out at night with her folks on the thirty-first of October made her a little bit nostalgic; thinking about all the wicked costumes she used to see, and trying to guess which of her childhood friends were lingering behind the masks made her heart swell. And the candy… good lord, the candy! Some neighbours were stingier than others about this, but Clem couldn't help but laugh as she remembered how unbearably cute she'd act in front of the grown-ups in order to get more out of them. A conniving little prankster, even back then.

Jogging over towards the orange beauties, Clementine skidded to a halt as she bent down beside the first one she saw. Oh, this was _definitely_ coming back with her today. But which one to choose? There were three of them in total, all roughly the same size except for the one on the left. But that one was all dented and looked as though something had gotten inside of it, so she was down to choosing between the two that remained. Clementine couldn't bring back both of them without exposing herself to any threats that may have come her way, so she relented and went with the one that she felt looked the coolest. It wasn't completely round and had a couple of bumps along the bottom, but she was content. It wasn't perfect, but that was alright. Neither was she.

"AJ's gonna love this," she spoke with certainty, ripping off some of the vines securing the vegetable to the ground before gingerly picking the pumpkin up and starting her walk back to where they were camped at. Secretly, she hoped that Kenny would also be on board with something like this as well. The guy could certainly use a pick-me-up every now and again.

As the rain started to come down a little faster, Clementine's walk turned into a light jog as she picked up the pace and left the patch behind her.

….

The grizzled old man couldn't help himself. Stepping up to the door and leaving it slightly ajar, he leaned against the frame and tapped his foot impatiently. Years of life on the open seas had taught him well on how to detect if a storm was coming, and the little rascal still hadn't come back yet. Where was Clementine? Had something happened to her along the way?

' _Don't wait up for me, Kenny! I know how worried you can get!'_ she had told him just before jetting off into unknown territory, leaving him behind with the year-old baby boy as he shook his head and watched her head deeper into the wilderness. She was right of course, in a way, but that was what came to be expected nowadays. He couldn't _not_ worry, not with everything turned upside down the way it was.

Itching at his scruffy beard, Kenny lightly grumbled under his breath as the first crack of lightning shot off in the distance. The mass of hair on his face was really getting difficult to maintain, and not that he was really that self-conscious about it or anything, but he had been noticing quite a few touches of gray making their way in there as well. That's what old age would do to you, but that rate was exponentially increasing the more time he spent out here surviving. Kenny actually was considering just cutting the whole thing off the next time that he saw a pair of scissors lying around, but he wasn't quite sold on it just yet. His beard defined him, as did the sporty, orange fishing cap that he hardly ever took off, so it was a pretty big decision to make.

Although, he surmised, Kenny supposed that soon enough, even the hat would likely be getting passed down the line to the little bundle of joy, who was currently checking out every inch of the room he was in with astonishment and wonder.

Alvin Junior still continued to blow his mind every day. The kid was just over a year old now, and was at the stage where everything was incredibly interesting. And naturally, he just _had_ to check out every single thing in sight, no matter how mundane or broken down it may have been. He had a thirst for exploration, and although AJ could not yet walk on his own, he could certainly crawl. For now, that would do. Kenny felt a wave of relief (and a tiny bit of pride, as well) when he and Clementine had discovered him moseying around one of the abandoned hotel rooms they had been checking out one day. Kenny was no expert, but his experience with Duck had taught him that AJ moving around like this was a good sign.

However, there was one thing that still bothered him deeply, even though to most people it would've seemed like a blessing. AJ hardly ever cried. Like, never. They could hardly get him to acknowledge their existence on some days.

Babies were supposed to cry, weren't they? Bawling and reaching out for their caretakers over food or attention? Sure, he'd have his moments where the only way he'd be able to communicate was through the tears he brought to his tiny, cute face, but mostly, AJ was silent. Duck used to cry _all_ the time, and over some of the tiniest things imaginable. Kenny had been so used to this that the transition legitimately scared him. Did the limited food they had not suffice? Were they inadvertently starving the little guy? Maybe that's why he'd barely shed a tear, even on the bad days.

Sometimes though, he and Clementine would thank their lucky stars for such a silent little companion. Twice now ever since they had strayed off on their own had they been forced to cover themselves in walker guts just to pass through undetected – something that, after Sarita, Kenny had never wanted to do _again._ But AJ actually seemed the most relaxed out of all three of them, and even smiled jovially at some of the walkers they had passed by. Thankfully, nothing had come of it.

Deciding that it'd probably be a better idea to check on Alvie than be standing on the sidelines and worrying himself sick, Kenny sighed before heading back inside. They were staying in what looked to be some kind of old, rustic pioneer town in the middle of a campground – Kenny had figured that this place must've been from the late 1800s or something. There was a well outside that now was only filled with garbage that people had dumped inside, as well as an antique carriage and a locked-down, old-timey general store that was more for show than anything else.

But the place they were staying in was the schoolhouse, which, with its dim lighting, tiny desks and rickety-looking blackboards, Kenny had found to be more than a little creepy. It was small and not really a pretty sight, mostly because the wallpaper had withered away years ago and the wood behind it had started to rot. There was even a small oven up at the front that must've once been used as a heater for the building, but Kenny had promptly decided that the billowing smoke going out the top of the chimney was too risky and would draw too much attention, much to Clementine's dismay.

Currently, AJ was checking out one of the chests containing some of the garb that the locals had worn back in the day – dresses, uniforms, hats, you name it. This part of the campsite, according to the sign just outside the door, was often used for re-enactments of not-so-famous events that had happened in this very spot long ago. They used to make pumpkin pies, have apple bobbing contests, take people on the carriage for tours, and even have mock lessons in the classroom so that visitors could "experience" what living like a pioneer must've been like back in the day. Kenny thought that the very notion of that was a bit of a joke with how far technology had advanced since then, but he had kept quiet about it. The kids seemed to enjoy the place, and he didn't really want to poop on their parade.

Chuckling slightly as he saw AJ pop out of the clothes pile with a small pair of pants on top of his head, Kenny sat down next to the little rascal and played along for a little bit; taking one of the linen shirts and wrapping it around his shoulders like a cape. It was nice, he had decided, being able to just relax like this for a little while. Nothing was trying to kill them, and for once he didn't have to concern himself with arguing about whatever hot topic it was going to be today. That's the problem he felt with the group he and Clem were in before – none of them would take the time to see the reasoning behind why he wanted to go up north in the first place. Going back south when they knew there was nothing down there would've been a massive mistake, and he had leapt at the chance to turn things around.

Kenny wasn't stupid, and neither was Clementine. They could figure this out if they put their heads together.

Hearing the door open rapidly, Kenny darted his head towards the noise and instinctively reached for his weapon, only to put it away when he saw Clementine waltz in. Soaked from head to toe, she took off her hat and set it down on the side before wiping the drops of rain away from her face. "I brought a surprise with me," she stated, but right now Kenny wasn't really paying attention to the haul she had collected.

"You were supposed to be back a long time ago."

"Didn't wanna come back empty-handed," she responded cheekily, snatching one of the shirts that AJ wasn't playing with to use as a towel as she wiped her hair with it. "And look at this thing! It's huge!" she proclaimed with a satisfied grin, one which Kenny hasn't really seen much of lately. "And I just figured, well… since it's probably close to autumn right now, maybe we could…"

But the more that she spoke, the less enthusiastic Clementine became as she watched Kenny's expression stay relatively neutral. She knew that he wouldn't be on board with this; that he'd be too serious and focus solely on getting the supplies they needed. It was a total bummer, too, since Clementine had been holding out on the hope that she could at least introduce AJ to something other than… _dead things_ and old junk that used to be a part of something more…

Making a clicking noise with his tongue, Kenny stood up and walked over to the window to watch the storm pass by. Clem wasn't entirely sure if she should take that as a cue to follow him over there, but she didn't really have anything better to do at the moment, so she silently picked up AJ and set him comfortably in her arms. The baby boy made a few gurgling noises as she poked him lightly on the nose before walking over towards where Kenny was sitting.

The rain pelted against the glass window outside, wiping away any of the dust and grime that had collected as several puddles began to form over by the general store. "We can't leave in this," Kenny muttered, so lowly that Clem could barely hear it from the orchestra of sounds going on around them. "But as soon as it's light, we've gotta get movin'. We can make a left at that there fork in the road we passed before we wandered over here."

"We're leaving again?" Clementine lightly complained, feeling AJ nuzzle into the crook of her neck as his eyes started to close. "We just got here! Can't we at least just wait a couple more days?"

"There ain't nothin' for us here, Clem. And that pumpkin o' yours ain't exactly cuttin' it for food."

Glancing over at the object with a major sense of disappointment, Clementine pouted slightly as she leaned against the wall. He had a point, of course: they couldn't exactly sprout a magical can of beans out of mid-air, and this schoolhouse would only serve as a shelter for so long. There were quite a few leaks in the ceiling where the rain was getting through, and there really wasn't anything comfortable for them to sleep on, either.

But Clementine was tired. Exhausted, really. See, they had had a little bit of a system going ever since they had ventured further north. Travel to the closest potential resting point, whether it be a gas station, camp site, community centre, or whatever, and scavenge about to see what they could find. It was nice and quick. In and out within a day or two, and leave nothing behind that could possibly trace them ever having been there.

As effective as this method of doing things could be at times, Clementine knew that one day, whether it be her first or Kenny, they'd eventually burn out. Living life on the road was often more difficult and dangerous than even the walkers were, since they could always count on those things to be pretty predictable. Walkers were dumb, and could be avoided altogether if need be. Travelling and making sure that you never looked in the same place twice on the other hand, was wearing the girl down. She wanted a change of pace; somewhere that they could actually stick it out for the long haul. Sadly, Kenny had other ideas.

"Well," she tried again, hoping he would change his mind, "maybe this'll be different! There's trees everywhere so we'll be covered from bad guys, and we could head out every now and then to look for real food. Maybe this could be like a base or something like – "

" _Clem_ ," he interrupted, fully turning to face her as he shook his head. "We can't, darlin'. This place is a dead end, like all the others. We have to be on the same page about this – there's too much at stake for us to stay here. Let's just drop it, and move on."

"But – "

"No."

Conceding defeat, but feeling plenty miffed about it, Clem frowned at the ground before mumbling something under her breath and heading back towards the pile of clothes with AJ in tow. As he watched her trot off, that familiar look of depression and weariness gracing her golden eyes, Kenny placed his hands in his pockets and sighed. He knew she understood, and he knew that it wasn't fair, but this was for the best. They needed something ideal, and Kenny wasn't about to settle for anything less than safe, secure and reliable. They needed something where Clem and AJ could act and grow up like normal kids, where they wouldn't have to wake up each and every morning wondering what the hell they were gonna do next, and whether or not their next meal would ultimately be their last.

Ideally, they needed _Wellington_. Those giant, steel walls were so tempting, and Kenny longed for whatever comfort they may have been provided on the other side had they been gained entry. But every time they went, they ended up even more disappointed than before. Somehow, they ended up surviving that first winter up north by the skin of their teeth, and Kenny cursed the inhabitants ferociously in between his teeth when Clementine had come down with a nasty case of the flu. She could've been treated with a warm blanket, someone with actual medical expertise, and hell, maybe even a warm bowl of chicken soup!

But instead, they barely endured a very real scare, almost to the point of just hibernating in several spots around Michigan until she had somewhat recovered. But even afterwards, they mostly lingered in the state, only heading south on a few occasions just to see what was up. It was all in the dim hopes that the next time they visited, Edith would spot them with a smile and a nod, opening up the gates and welcoming them with open arms.

At some point it would happen, though. The fifth (or was it sixth?) time had to be the charm, after all.

He watched her silently for a time, just observing her every move as she gently laid AJ down onto one of the seats and unzipped the green bag they had been given so long ago. The formula was starting to run out, but thankfully, the baby was starting to grow enough that pretty soon he wouldn't even need it. Kenny would be able soon to cook him a few meals, albeit in very small and cut-up portions. Clementine made a face at AJ as she whispered for him to open wide, and he complied as Clem complimented him for a job well done.

She was a natural, for sure, but she was becoming better at this whole caretaker thing by the day. It warmed the old fisherman's heart to witness this transformation.

Hearing his footsteps once again as she briefly glanced over, Clementine grinned as she saw Kenny lingering near the pumpkin before picking it up in his arms. "I was thinking of naming it something," she mentioned with a snicker, dropping her hand as AJ took matters into his own little hands and clutched his bottle himself.

"Heh, oh really?" Kenny asked in amusement.

"Totally," she nodded as he brought the thing over and sat it down between the three of them. "Hmm… I'm thinking Jack."

"Jack?"

"Yeah!"

"…oh, I get it," he rolled his eye, smirking as Clem giggled at her own witty sense of humour. Truth be told, he was glad she was still able to lighten the mood every now and then. For a long while, he wasn't entirely sure if Clementine even had any mirth left within her soul at all. "Well then, Mr. Jack… what do you say Clem and I carve you open? Ya know, for shits and gigs."

Quirking an eyebrow and calling him a weirdo, Clementine wasted no time to dive into the bag and pull out the small Swiss army knife they had found while raiding through a hardware store a few months back. It wasn't exactly the best thing in the world for killing walkers due to its small size, but it was perfect for cutting things open, and certainly would come in handy here. She went to hand it over to him, but Kenny shook his head and pushed the pumpkin closer to her with his foot.

"No way! Seriously, Kenny?"

"Your pumpkin, your jack-o-lantern, your cut!"

"I suck at these things…" she grumbled playfully before setting it down in her lap. AJ stared wide-eyed at Jack with wondrous enthusiasm. "Alright then, Einstein, what are we making here?"

"Hmm…" he pondered dramatically, glancing with a watchful eye as AJ started to crawl towards Clem. "How about a witch?"

"Too fancy! Next?"

"Goblin?"

"No can do!"

"How about a vampire, then?"

"Kenny, c'mon! Get real!"

Chuckling and shaking his head, Kenny reached over and tussled the girl's hair around a little bit before scooping AJ up and placing him gingerly in his lap. The little guy was putting up one hell of a fight trying to wander back over to his big sister, but the old man wouldn't budge. "Ugh, when did you get so boring?" he teased, only snorting louder as she placed her hands on her hips. "Fine then. How about the classic one, then? You can at least make a face, can't you?"

Only having to think about it for a second before vigorously nodding her head, Clementine grabbed the knife and started making some cuts. Three triangles were gonna be the way to go – two for the eyes and one for the nose, with a jaggedy, scary-looking pattern for the mouth down below. By the time she had finished, and Kenny had made some comments on how it was going during the whole process, Clem was pretty satisfied with her work. The end result looked a little lopsided, and she had accidentally cut the eyes too close together, but she immediately boasted that she had _wanted_ it to look like a cyclops the entire time.

"You get to pull out the brains, then!" Clementine insisted, trading him for the baby as he had no choice but to agree. He always found the insides of the pumpkin to be too squirmy and slimy for his liking, but as soon as he voiced this, Clementine immediately gave him the _'are you kidding me'_ look. "You kill walkers all the time, have covered yourselves in their insides and seen just about the grossest stuff imaginable, and _this_ is what you're disgusted by?"

So, with that in mind, he got to work.

…..

"Well," Kenny commented, looking with content as Jack the jack-o-lantern now sat proudly on the desk with a glowing candle in its mouth, "I reckon you did a mighty fine job, Clem. You'll be a Van Gogh yet."

"A Van who?"

"Never mind," he cut off, not wanting to go into the details right now. "I think Alvie here might be a big fan of it, though. I've never seen him so entranced before."

Nodding her head, Clementine hugged her knees to her chest as the two of them watched little Alvin Junior staring up at the pumpkin with absolute delight. It almost seemed like he wanted to grow a pair of wings just so he could get up there and reach it, with his little arms spread up high to the ceiling. Sometimes she wondered if the toddler had an inkling of what was going on; if he could kind of take a guess as to why they were always moving around like crazy people without a set destination. It was pretty unlikely, with him being so young, but Clementine could already detect a brightness within the kid. And with the way he was always silently watching everybody and all the scenes around him, she wouldn't put it past AJ if he could actually start to put the pieces together. He certainly was a curious little fella, after all.

It was still bugging her a little bit, knowing in the back of her mind that the fun would be over in the morning and that they'd have to pack up their things once again. And it saddened her a little bit that Kenny still wasn't able to really come to terms with his loss; that restlessness often driving him into a downward spiral of anger and sadness that could take up to days at a time to recover. But for now at least, he seemed to be sort of at peace. The usual fire in his eyes had been temporarily replaced by the warm glow that she had seen upon first reuniting back at the ski lodge. Clem loved seeing him again, even though they hadn't always seen eye to eye on some things.

As he lowered his gaze to the floor, however, she decided right there that for tonight, neither of them would have to think about all the shit life had thrown at them. No, tonight, they all needed a bit of a distraction.

"What are you up to?" Kenny asked, confused as to why she'd be digging around the clothing chest and tossing various items out onto the floor.

"I know that I saw it somewhere in here…" she murmured, snapping her fingers when she finally discovered what she was looking for.

And as soon as he saw her come out with the hat, he immediately frowned and shook his head.

"Uh-uh. No way."

"Kenny, it's Halloween! Or at least I think it is. You've gotta look the part! You're already halfway there!"

"Do you have any idea how offensive that is?"

"You'd better hurry before AJ snags it first," she goaded with a smirk, noticing that with the baby's short attention span, he had soon stopped having a staring contest with Jack and had proceeded to contently sucking on one of the old costumes. "Well, _I'm_ at least gonna be a good sport about this. Ta-da!" she proclaimed as she displayed the costume she had picked out. Kenny was bewildered as to why there was a fedora stuffed away in a chest full of pioneer clothes, but Clem didn't seem to give a damn. "Detective Clementine, at your service! We're on the case! AJ's gonna be my assistant – isn't that right, big guy?"

Upon hearing his name, AJ gargled on his saliva and fell backwards; kicking his legs up in the air.

With an amused grin tugging at the corners of his lips, Kenny sarcastically folded his arms across his chest. "Oh yeah, you've got a real focused assistant there, ma'am. I'm sure they'd hire you on the spot…"

But at this point, Clementine wasn't really listening as she was far too occupied in trying to find more costumes to procure. _This_ is the Clem that Kenny had wanted to see – the one with the childlike, playful side coming through in full force. The one who'd probably be heading into the third or fourth grade at this point, not having to worry about guns or walkers or shelter or any of that crap. Same went for AJ. He would give anything in the world for them to be able to live that life, even though at this point, he really didn't have a whole lot on him to make such an exchange.

He watched and mostly twiddled his thumbs as Clementine started to get increasingly bored with each passing costume, and the fact that she was really the only one trying to have a good time. The man didn't really want to do it, almost as if it was admitting that his eye was gone and that there was no hope for him ever being able to see properly again, but he knew that Clem hadn't meant it as an insult. She just wanted him to join in on the fun.

So, after giving it some thought, he relented and donned the sporty new hat; setting his on top of AJ's head as Clem grinned at his change of attire.

"It's about time," she mentioned, tossing him a long-sleeved white shirt with a brown, leather vest as he took off his green jacket. If only for a night, he'd play along and make the kids happy.

And Kenny had to admit – he did look pretty fucking awesome as a pirate.


End file.
